other girl so popular
and so attractive as these two. Many a puncher would have been willing to
break an arm for the sake of such kindness as had been lavished upon
these boys.

By sunup the three of them had finished breakfast. Billie put out the
fire and scattered the ashes in the river. He went into a committee of
ways and means with Lee Snaith just before she returned to town.

"You can't stay here long. Some one is sure to stumble on you just as I
did. What plan have you to get away?"

"If I could get our horses in three or four days mebbe Jim could make out
to ride a little at a time."

"He couldn't--and you can't get your horses," she vetoed.

"Then I'll have to leave him, steal another horse, and ride through to
Webb for help."

"No. You mustn't leave him. I'll see if I can get a man to take a message
to your friends."

A smile came out on his lean, strong face. "You're a good friend."

"I'm no friend of yours," she flashed back. "But I won't have my father
spoiling the view by hanging you where I might see you when I ride."

"You're Wallace Snaith's daughter, I reckon."

"Yes. And no man that rides for Homer Webb can be a friend of mine."

"Sorry. Anyhow, you can't keep me from being mighty grateful to my
littlest enemy."

He did not intend to smile, but just a hint of it leaped to his eyes. She
flushed angrily, suspecting that he was mocking her, and swung her pony
toward town.

On the way she shot a brace of ducks for the sake of appearances. The
country was a paradise for the hunter. On the river could be found great
numbers of ducks, geese, swans, and pelicans. Of quail and prairie
chicken there was no limit. Thousands of turkeys roosted in the timber
that bordered the streams. There were times when the noise of pigeons
returning to their night haunt was like thunder and the sight of them
almost hid the sky. Bands of antelope could be seen silhouetted against
the skyline. As for buffalo, numbers of them still ranged the plains,
though the day of their extinction was close at hand. No country in the
world's history ever offered such a field for the sportsman as the
Southwest did in the days of the first great cattle drives.

Miss Bertie Lee dismounted at a store which bore the sign

SNAITH & McROBERT
General Merchandise

Though a large building, it was not one of the most recent in town. It
was what is known as a "dugout" in the West, a big cellar roofed over,
with side walls rising abo